I, Uchiha, will not be whitewashed!

When Shuoge took the fourth step, Feiliuhu opened his mouth.

It wasn't a roar, it was a launch.

Three senbon needles flew out of that mouth that stretched to its ears, moving so fast that the air was torn apart, emitting a sharp whistling sound.

The tip of the thousand sticks gleamed with a purplish-black light; it was poison.

There is no antidote for the poison of the Sand Village.

Shuoge's sword remained sheathed. He tilted his head slightly, and the first sage stalk flew past his ear, embedding itself in the bamboo behind him, instantly turning the bamboo pole black.

The second senbon passed under his armpit, tearing his clothes but not touching his skin.

The third senbon needle went straight for his left eye—his Sharingan had already seen the trajectory. He tilted his head slightly, and the senbon needle swept past the tip of his nose, severing a few strands of hair.

Three thousand sticks, three steps, three movements, the sword still unsheathed.

Hiruko's dark eyes stared at him, as if she were reassessing him.

Shuoge didn't stop and continued walking forward.

Three steps.

Two steps.

step.

Hiruko's tail twitched.

It's not a sweep, it's a thorn.

The dark red tail lashed out from the side, its venomous stinger drawing a purplish-black arc in the air.

It's faster than a thousand sticks and has a more tricky angle.

Shuoge's sword was finally drawn. The blade swept upwards, precisely striking the joint of his tail.

The sound of metal clashing was ear-piercing; the tail was thrown off, but not broken.

Hiruko's shell was harder than he had imagined.

Shuoge took half a step back, creating some distance.

He looked at the shallow scratch on the blade—it wasn't that the blade was chipped; it was that the outer shell of the Hiruko was hard enough to leave a mark on the blade.

This thing isn't wood; it's some kind of special alloy, a mixture of chakra metal and minerals unique to Sunagakure.

That madman Scorpion even uses the best materials for his shell.

Hiruko gave him no time to catch his breath.

The mouth opened again, this time not three senbon needles, but more than a dozen.

The fan-shaped launch covered all of Shuoge's escape routes.

At the same time, its left hand rose, its five fingers like five daggers, coated with poison, reaching for Shuoge's chest. Its right hand was not idle either; a short knife slid out from its sleeve and swept across Shuoge's lower body.

One puppet, three attack points.

A thousand books block the sky, left hand grabs the chest, right hand sweeps the lower body.

Sasori's fingers manipulated these mechanisms inside Hiruko, every finger moving and every chakra thread exerting force.

This is the genius of a puppeteer—one person, performing the coordination of three.

Sakugo's Sharingan reached its limit.

The three magatama spun rapidly, as if they would merge into one in the next second, and everything in the field of vision slowed down.

The trajectory of the thousand sticks, the angle of the left hand, the arc of the right hand, were all clearly visible in his pupils.

He neither backed down nor took the hit head-on.

He stepped on Hiruko's right wrist with his left foot and used the momentum to leap up.

His body flipped in mid-air, and senbon flew past him, while his left hand brushed past the sole of his foot.

The sword cleaved down from above, not to behead Hiruko, but to sever its left wrist.

The sound of metal clashing rang out again, and Hiruko's left wrist was cleaved open, but not severed. A crack appeared in the dark red outer shell, revealing a dense array of gears and springs inside.

Shuoge landed and knelt on one knee. He didn't look at the crack; he had already memorized its location.

Hiruko's tail swept over again.

This time it wasn't a thorn, it was an entanglement.

Its tail coiled around Shuoge's neck like a snake.

Shuoge held his sword horizontally in front of him, using the blade to block the tail's wrapping motion. The blade and tail rubbed together, producing a piercing metallic sound.

He used the momentum from his tail to stand up and slashed at Hiruko's head. It wasn't a real strike, just a feint. His Sharingan was fixed on the seam in her abdomen—that was where her true form lay.

Hiruko crossed her hands to protect her head, revealing an opening in her abdomen.

Shuoge's knife changed direction in mid-air, turning from his head to his abdomen, and thrusting straight into the gap.

The blade pierced three inches before hitting something hard. It wasn't wood, it was metal. Scorpion had also added an alloy plate to Hiruko's abdomen, completely protecting its body inside.

Shuoge sheathed his sword and retreated.

He stood five steps away from Fei Liu Hu, his sword held horizontally in front of him, his breathing steady.

His Sharingan stared at the gap, a dark red liquid smeared on the tip of his blade—not blood, but some kind of lubricant. He had stabbed a joint, but hadn't damaged the main body.

"The shell is tough enough," Shogo said calmly. "But the joints are a weakness."

Fei Liu Hu did not respond. Its body sank slightly, like a toad poised to pounce. Its two dark eyes stared at Shuo Ge, no longer showing contempt.

This kid is no pushover.

Jiraiya stood to the side, the hand seals already broken.

He looked at Shuoge, and his expression changed.

The brat dodged Hiruko's three attacks right in front of him and even stabbed him in return. It wasn't luck; it was his eyes and his knife.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Jade".

Shuoge formed a hand seal with his left hand and held a knife in his right.

Wind-attribute chakra condensed in his palm, compressed, and then released.

It's not a wind blade, it's a wind bullet.

Three vacuum jades flew out from the palm of his hand, moving so fast that the air was torn apart, heading straight for the gap in Fei Liu Hu's head, left shoulder, and abdomen.

Fei Liu Hu covered her head and left shoulder with her hands, but the gap in her abdomen was too large to protect her. The vacuum jade struck the gap, causing the alloy plate to vibrate and the crack to widen.

Hiruko swayed and took half a step back.

Shuo Ge did not stop.

The second batch of vacuum jade, three pieces.

This time, they aimed entirely at the abdomen.

Hiruko's tail swept across, deflecting one bullet, missing another, and hitting the crack squarely with the third. The alloy plate split open, revealing a dark, hollow hole inside.

The scorpion's fingers were moving.

Hiruko opened her mouth and exhaled a cloud of purple smoke.

Poisonous fog.

It wasn't a thousand sticks, it was gas. The poisonous mist spread through the air, enveloping Shuoge. Don't touch it, don't inhale it. Shuoge retreated, his hands forming a hand seal.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough"

A gust of wind shot out from his palm, dispersing the poisonous mist, which then rolled away in the direction of Fei Liu Hu.

Hiruko's mouth closed, and the gaps in its shell shut, preventing the poisonous mist from penetrating inside. The mist slowly dissipated into the air. Sasori's poisonous attack was backfired on by its own poisonous mist. Although it didn't harm its main body, its rhythm was disrupted.

Sakugo saw it. Hiruko's defenses momentarily faltered. He rushed forward, twirling the sword in his hand, channeling Wind Release chakra into the blade.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Slash".

An invisible wind blade flew out from the tip of the blade, not in a straight line, but in an arc.

Go around from the left to the right side of Hiruko, avoiding its frontal arms, and cut into the abdominal slit from a blind spot.

The wind blade severed the alloy plate at the edge of the crack, cut off the gears and springs inside, and severed the joints connecting the upper and lower halves of Hiruko's body.

Hiruko's body split in the middle, her upper body tilted to one side, while her lower body remained standing in place.

But the scorpion is still inside.

His fingers were still moving. Hiruko's right hand had detached from his upper body, but he was still controlling it.

The hand flew towards Shogo, its five fingers like five daggers, aiming for his face. Shogo dodged, the blade severing the chakra thread connecting his right hand. The hand fell to the ground, motionless.

Hiruko's upper body was leaning to one side, while her lower body remained standing.

Sasori's fingers were faintly visible through the crack, and Sakugo saw them—a pair of pale, slender hands, with dense chakra threads connecting the fingertips.

That is the scorpion's true form.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Fire".

Shuoge formed a hand seal with his left hand, and six small fireballs flew out from his palm, not to attack Fei Liuhu, but to block Xie's retreat.

The fireball landed around the remains of Hiruko, setting it ablaze and turning the ground into a sea of ​​fire.

Scorpion was trapped in the middle of the ring of fire, his puppet remains burning in the flames, crackling and popping.

Hiruko's shell cracked open. Not by Sakugo, but by Sasori himself. The dark red shell split in two, falling to either side to reveal the person inside.

A boy.

Reddish-brown hair, pale skin, and amber eyes.

He's very young, looks like he's not even twenty.

His face was expressionless, his eyes deep, unfathomable. He wore a long black robe, and chakra threads were still attached to his fingers, the other end of which was the remains of Hiruko—now useless.

Sasori's true form stood in the moonlight, within a ring of fire. He looked at Sakugo, and finally, something appeared in his amber eyes—not contempt, not anger, but interest.

"What's your name?" Scorpion's voice was very soft, as soft as the sound of bamboo leaves rubbing together.

"Uchiha Sakugo".

Scorpion nodded, as if trying to remember the name.

His fingers twitched, and chakra threads extended from his fingertips, not towards the remains of Hiruko, but towards the wooden house behind him.

The door to the wooden house opened. What stepped out was not a person, but a puppet.

Her deep blue hair was draped over her shoulders, with slightly curled ends, and her bangs covered half of her forehead.

The yellow eyes were wide open, the pupils unfocused.

His face was pale, his features were deep-set, his lips were tightly pressed together, and his expression was stiff.

It was wearing a standard vest worn by a Jonin of Sunagakure, with the front open, revealing a dark, empty hole in its chest—where a heart should have been beating, but now only a chakra core emitted a faint red glow in the darkness.

—The Third Kazekage's puppet!

Sasori's chakra threads extended from his fingertips, connecting to the joints of the puppet.

With a slight twitch of his fingers, the Third Kazekage raised his head, his empty yellow eyes fixed on Sakugo.

The puppet's mouth was slightly open, as if it were trying to say something, but no sound came out. Only the subtle sound of gears turning emanated from its body, like bones rubbing together.

Jiraiya frowned.

He had naturally guessed that the Third Kazekage's corpse had been turned into a puppet, but seeing it with his own eyes was another matter entirely.

The man who once stood at the top of Sunagakure is now being controlled by his rogue ninja successor, like a puppet on a string.

Sakumo Hatake's sword was drawn two inches further. His eyes were fixed on the puppet's chest, where the chakra core was located—the core of the human puppet. Break that core, and the puppet would be useless.

With a flick of Sasori's finger, the Third Kazekage opened his mouth.

A senbon flew out of the mouth at a slow speed, but a strange buzzing sound came from the air—not the sound of the senbon cutting through the air, but the sound of Magnet Release.

Sakugo's Sharingan caught it.

The thousand books split in the air, one into three, three into nine, and nine into twenty-seven.

Each one carries a weak magnetic force, attracting and repelling each other, weaving into a net in the air. This is the Third Kazekage's bloodline limit—Magnet Release.

Even after being turned into a puppet, this ability is still retained.

"Be careful." Jiraiya's voice was low. "The iron sand from Magnet Release is poisonous."

Shuoge did not answer.

His sword was held horizontally in front of him, and his three-tomoe Sharingan stared at the twenty-seven senbon needles, the trajectory of each one clearly visible in his pupils.

He remained completely calm.

The wind flows over the blade, and the fire burns behind.

-

As soon as Sasori's finger moved, Jiraiya made his move.

It's not ninjutsu, it's speed.

He instantly appeared to the side of the Third Kazekage puppet and kicked it in the head.

The dark blue figure flew out horizontally, smashing through three bamboo poles and sliding more than ten meters away.

Sasori's fingers were forced to loosen, one of his chakra threads snapped, and his body swayed, taking a half-step back.

Sakumo Hatake's sword slashed from the other side, not at Sasori, but at the chakra threads on his fingers.

With a flash of light, both lines severed simultaneously.

Sasori's fingers froze in mid-air, and the Third Kazekage puppet, which had just stood up, collapsed again.

The two worked together without any communication. Jiraiya was responsible for kicking the puppet away, while Sakumo Hatake was responsible for severing the strings. One kick, one slash; one to the left, one to the right—it was as if they had been working together for decades.

Scorpion's amber eyes looked at them, and a hint of expression finally appeared on his pale face—not fear, but excitement.

His fingers were moving, not controlling the Third Kazekage, but controlling the scattered remains of Hiruko.

The splinters of wood, broken joints, and scattered gears bounced off the ground, flying towards Jiraiya and Sakumo Hatake. It wasn't an attack, but harassment. The edges of the fragments were coated with poison; a touch would be fatal.

Jiraiya clasped his hands together.

"Fire Release: Flame Bullet"

A fireball shot out of its mouth, not to hit the scorpion, but to hit the fragments.

The fragments were ignited in the air, burned to ashes, and scattered under the moonlight.

Hatake Sakumo's sword did not stop; he cut through the gaps in the firelight, the blade aimed directly at the scorpion's body.

Scorpion stepped back, his fingers connecting with the puppet of the Third Kazekage.

The deep blue figure sprang up from the ground, blocking Sasori's path. It raised its hand, palm facing Sakumo Hatake—Magnet Release: Iron Sand Needle.

Countless fine iron needles, as fine as cow hair, shot out from his palm, covering all of Hatake Sakumo's escape routes.

Sakumo Hatake did not retreat.

His sword drew a circle in front of him, the light of the blade weaving into a silver shield.

The iron needles struck the blade, producing a dense clanging of metal, like a downpour hitting a tin roof. The needles bounced off and scattered on the ground, but the blade remained unbroken.

Jiraiya leaped up from behind him, forming hand seals.

"Ninjutsu: Needle Jizo."

His white hair suddenly hardened and grew longer, like countless steel needles exploding from the top of his head and stabbing towards the scorpion.

Sasori's fingers moved frantically, and the Third Kazekage puppet stood in front of him, its arms crossed, and iron sand condensed into a shield in front of it.

Jiraiya's hair pierced the sand shield, making a screeching sound, and cracks appeared on the shield.

But Sasori's left hand had already risen, and the last arm from Hiruko's remains flew toward Jiraiya's side, its five poisoned fingers reaching for his ribs.

Sakumo Hatake's sword swept up from below, cleaving the arm in two, its parts scattered all over the ground.

His eyes weren't on the arm; they were fixed on the scorpion.

The scorpion's true form has been revealed.